From Sky Report
A Bad Day for DIRECTV
Some days you just can’t win and Tuesday was definitely one of those for DIRECTV. While rival DISH enjoyed an up-day (see yesterday’s Evening BRIDGE), DIRECTV took a double-whammy from its NFL Sunday Ticket woes plus a consumer lawsuit over allegedly illegal early cancellation penalties.
As reported yesterday, numerous NFL Sunday Ticket fans found their TVs festooned with error messages rather than football players this past weekend ... and one New York Times blogger attributed the problem to the DBS leader’s decision to no longer broadcast Sunday Ticket games via MPEG 2, preferring to keep them to the newer MPEG 4 format. It amounts, said the blogger, to a “blackout policy” on subscribers with older equipment.
Meanwhile, news broke on a lawsuit filed by California consumers who say they’re being charged “early cancellation penalties” which DIRECTV has deducted automatically from their bank accounts or charged to their credit cards without permission. A motion for a preliminary injunction filed in Los Angeles Superior Court claims that DIRECTV “systematically withdrawing the fees of up to $480” when customers terminate their service.
Said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the non-profit Consumer Watchdog, one of the attorneys in the case in a press release, "These days, many families are struggling to make ends meet. Now is the last time DIRECTV should be plundering people's financial accounts to pay a fee that we believe is unlawful."
Similar lawsuits have reportedly been filed in federal courts, including in California.
Said a DIRECTV spokesperson on the controversy: "Contrary to the statement in the press release, DIRECTV does not withdraw money from its customers’ bank accounts or credit cards without their consent. DIRECTV only charges an early cancellation fee to a customer's credit or debit card after the customer authorizes the charge so there is nothing for the Court to enjoin. Customers are informed of and consent to these charges on multiple occasions, and DIRECTV intends to vigorously defend against these claims in this litigation."
As for the NFL Sunday Ticket, DIRECTV pinned the problem on older receivers whose program guides have limited memory capacity. Said a spokesperson, "We have to minimize the number of titles available in the guide, including some sports subscription titles, in order to keep these receivers running smoothly. This issue has only affected less than 10% of our customer base and we are working quickly to upgrade these older receivers, at no cost, to mitigate any future problems."
The company also notes that NFL games continue to be broadcast in standard def via MPEG 2.•
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